"Girl you are gonna croak a dog!"

Hello Family! Another week has gone by here in the wonderful harvesting area of Texarkana!! This week has been the best! Sister Bithell and I have worked sooo hard this week.Sunday  was the best! The Chapel was completely full, there were people out in the foyer because there was no room to sit! It was the best! We had four returning members come who we have been working with as well as Amy! I love Amy! I love these returning members! Aww life is so good. So very very blessed. This week were transfer calls, but rest assured, I am staying right where I want to be! In TEXAS!! They're switching elders for sisters in the New Boston ward so now there is another sister companionship in are zone and in Texas. Come what may and love it right! I am excited for them to come, it will be hard not holding the only sister spot in Texas, but I know it is for the best. I love this work. 

Sister Bithell and I learn and grow everyday. We literally don't feel like she is new at all, she is doing great! We have grown a lot together and are still overcoming challenges. The good Lord continues to bless us! 

Love Y'all!

Southern saying of the week would have to be by Sister Turner. She went with us to see a returning member and she made a comment before telling us a joke, "Girl you are gonna croak a dog!" haha she is the best! 

Side walks are hard to come by. 

Seeing Sis. Shoto on her 99th birthday! She was born August 24, 1915! 

 

As part of training we role play with Elder White, our District Leader, every week. It has helped a ton. All the missionaries in the Texarkana ward after potluck on Sunday. 

Dinner last night.Notice the Cowboy in the left hand corner, and the Catfish sign on the right. 

Gotta love the south! 

Elder Cobb, Elder Taylor, Elder Palmer, Elder Lore, Me, Sister Bithell, Elder White, Elder Paul 

All the missionaries in the Texarkana ward after potluck on Sunday. 

The best place to be!

Hey y'all. Another week has come and gone here in good ol' Texar (the best place to be!) I love it here. Transfers are this upcoming week, I'm sure I'll be staying, I will be emailing on Tuesday.We spent Thursday night-Sunday  afternoon in Shreveport. We stayed with the Bossier Sisters and went on exchanges with them. It was a party. Sister Rogers, the sister I went out with is from a Missour, really close to Kansas City. She loves horses so we had a lot in common, it was fun. Zone conference, and stake conference was the best! Elder Whitney Clayton, a president of one of the quorums of seventy was there. I got to shake his hand and he asked where I was from, it was really neat. Anyways the whole weekend was crazy busy, but a real learning opportunity. 

Loving Texas

We're really busy in Texar, which is a blessing. We're teaching Amy tonight, she is getting baptized on September 6. I love her so much. It has been the best teaching her. I just think the world of her! Aww life is great. We are also working with a lot of returning members and seeing their testimonies grow. 

Love y'all. I think we're going to play some cards and clue with the elders. Should be a fun day! Thank-you for all y'all do. You're prayers, letters, and blessings mean the world to me. I'm so grateful to be out on a mission, especially to be in the MJM. Love it all. 

Thanks again for all yall do! 

Love y'all! 

Staying with the Boisser sisters. Sister Rogers and Sister Helms 

Missionary family history

Sister Sowards and Sister Bithell (MTC companions), with me and Sister Brown (MTC companions).

Companions training companions 

Mighty!

This week could be described as "mighty." Mighty lessons, mighty finding, mighty opposition, mighty miracles, and mighty emotions. It has been grand. Sister Bithell and I are doing good. We keep learning and growing each day. This weekend we are headed to Shreveport for zone conference and stake conference. We will be in Louisiana from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon. It will be crazy. Just another day in the MJM.

 Love it.

 Love yall. 

                        Good ol' Genhis Grill, Southern Soul Food. (yes that's a frog leg!)

Member lives here

Dinner with Amy

"It's the time of your life so live it well."

Well another great week has past. The weather down here has been really strange. I guess it's the coldest it's been this time of year in years. It rained Wednesday-Friday.  It always makes tracting fun. We were out in the rain and I prayed for it to stop and it did. I told Sister Bithell and she said she had been praying that it would keep raining, so I prayed that the rain would start back up again, and it did. We both thought that God had a good laugh at us. 

Speaking of Sister Bithell, she is amazing! She is an amazing missionary. She is training me! She's so good, ougthh she is very hard on herself. I always find myself giving her the same advice my trainers gave me, and she totally reminds me of me when I was in her shoes. 

Thanks for sending the package, I loved it! The cookies are all gone, and I just finished up some fruit snacks. Thank-you! And I love that joke about "tracting!". I love all the pictures you send each week. One of the Elders here is from a ranch so we always show each other pictures of what is happening back home. Both are dads said they took the bulls out this week. Oh and the superduty is looking fine as always. 

We saw a lot of miracles this week. The Lord truly is mindful of each one of us. Sister Bithell and I went to see a part member family that I haven't ever met. I know sisters in the past saw them, but for different reasons stopped going. I felt impressed to see them, though I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how they would receive us. Well they invited us right in and we talked for a while and said we were more than welcome to come back and share a lesson. It was a dream come true! It went great! 

Oh and we saw the girls this week!!! YAh!! We talked with them about the Holy Ghost and taught them how to look up scriptures and then we read the scriptures and talked about them. I felt like a mom, it was really sweet and fun! Memaw, the girls grandma was there. I can't remember what I was talking about, but somehow I started relating something from The Man From Snowy River, and then I asked if she'd seen it. Memaw got all excited and said that she loves it! I about died! It was the best!!! Sometimes when I get frustrated I hum "Clancy's theme" (the part when he's riding to the Harrison's and he's humming). It's a good stress reliever. 

We are working hard here in Good ol Texar. I can't believe that it's August, time flies when you're having the time of your life. "It's the time of your life so live it well." 

Yall be safe and have a great week!

Love Sister Hartley 

Hi Everyone! We had another great week here in Texarkana. The girls got baptized yesterday!!!!! It was the sweetest thing in the world, loved it! They had so much family support, over half of the people there where their family!! Little Loriann is the sweetest, I asked her what she was most excited for and she said, "to know what the Holy Ghost feels like." 

The sweet girls at their baptism! Loriann, Ally, and Novalee!

The girls with their sweet moms.

Saturday was a great day here in Texar. It was pioneer day so the stake had softball and games at the church. It was super fun to play softball, reminded me of good ol' youth days. Only it is better being a missionary because no one can judge you for your lack of softball ability, haha. It was fun though. I guess usually it's just a mens thing, but they let Sister Bithell and I play and towards the end a few more gals joined in. It was fun to be with the stake and see other sister missionaries. It was a really hot day, and in the afternoon we had a bunch of tracting to do. It was getting a little hot out walking and then bam a miracle happened. We knocked on a door to find Sister Rowland behind it! She's a member in the ward, she's amazing! Anyways turns out it's her mother's house (who isn't a member). She let us right in with a big ol' hug and ice water. We were able to share a message with her mom and it was really spiritual. The members here are amazing, and God is amazing. Miracles always happen while tracting, it's wonderful. 

Speaking of tracting, last night we got talking to a man who really knows his bible. I sorta had an "ahh huh" moment while talking with him. He brought up several scriptures from the bible and I knew about all the scriptures he mentioned and was able to be bold and give him some questions to think about. Afterwards I got thinking of how far I've come in the past 9 months. The Lord truly has helped me, his grace is a beautiful thing, for I lack so much, but when I do my part his grace is truly there, I can feel it. 

Training has also caused me to contemplate my vision as a missionary. Sister Bithell is so sweet and has such a strong desire to learn, grow, and "become." She reminds me of myself when I was in her shoes. President said that he had a very clear and distinct impression that we were to be companions. 

Anyways, that's all for now. We're playing softball with the elders and some members this afternoon and hopefully some cards, we'll see what happens. Love all the pictures yall send every week. I was showing off Jett to the elders and they think he's pretty cute. Life is good isn't it. So blessed. Oh I loved seeing Aunt Ginny, and mom your hair looks great! 

Love, Sister Hartley 

Helping Sister Ethridge can peaches!

Family Home Evening with our favorite people!

Our service for the week...a member moved into a new house that need some serious cleaning...we offered are services! 

What life looks like right now! Gotta love talking to families! 

Us and Memaw (the girl's grandma) 

New Companion, Sister Bithell

President McDonough is inspired

This past week has been bittersweet. Sister Meek and I had a great last week together. Tonight we drive to Shreveport and early in the morning Sister Meek will head to the mission home and I'll stay with the sisters in Shreveport until my new companion comes. I'm not sure who my new companion is, President said he will call me tomorrow morning and let me know who she is. She'll be coming from the MTC. In interviews a few weeks ago President McDonough told Sister Meek and I that I would be training. I'm so glad he told me then....so I could have a good 3 weeks to prepare. (I am my mother's daughter after all!) I'm excited and nervous, but I know the good Lord is mindful of us, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that President McDonough is inspired. Whoever she is, she sure is lucky to come to Texarkana...this is the place to be! I promised President that I would raise up a valiant and steadfast missionary, I know the good Lord will help me. 

Seeing Sis Shoto (98 yr old member!)

Saying goodbye to Shyanne (dear friend of ours)

On Saturday, the Lord gave Sister Meek and I an experience I will never forget. We had a lesson with a couple that we have been teaching. The lessons have been going pretty good. Usually they end up being question and answer sessions. Anyways, it got to a point in the lesson that I could see that we were getting no where. They asked us what we believed, we showed them scripture, and then they would change the scripture around. With the spirit guiding my words I explained that we weren't getting anywhere and that we weren't out to prove anything, that they had to ask God and read from the Book of Mormon. The wife then spoke for a good 5 minutes against everything we had spoken of, telling us that we're basically going to **** for what we believe. I sat there, my heart racing, waiting for her to finish. When she did, I didn't say anything for a long minute, I let the spirit come back and when I felt the time was right, I placed the Book of Mormon and Bible in my hand and said with all the confidence and conviction that I could muster, "I know what I know, and I will never deny what I know. I know that the Book of Mormon and Bible are the word of God. I know that there is a prophet on the earth today." We ended on good terms, I gave her a hug, and they wished us well, and then we were gone. Once in the car I broke down in tears, I haven't done that in a long time. The longer you're out, the harder it is to cry, but I cried. Poor Sister Meek just drove will I cried. I can't bear to hear blasphemy against Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, or anything alike. We went to the church after, the Elders had a baptism scheduled for the afternoon and I needed to practice the piano for it. Thankfully I got myself in check before the elders came, but when they got there I asked for a priesthood blessing. I didn't give any details, just that I would like a blessing of comfort. I'm so grateful for worthy priesthood holders. Elder White had no idea what had happened, but you would have never known by the blessing he gave. There is power in the priesthood. The baptism was very inspirational. The atonement is real, we can become clean. It is a beautiful thing.

Amy and baby Andrew

The picture I sent with Amy and baby Andrew, well I love Amy and she is getting baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!! Words really can't describe the love I have for her. I'm so excited. This new sister is going to witness some pretty amazing miracles these next few transfers.

I'm so grateful to serve in the south, my testimony strengthens each day. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet, I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ.I know the Lord has prepared people here to receive the gospel. We will find them.

Sister Hartley 

Sister Atterberry

  Dinner with the Stoddards. (the coolest people ever!)